


there's no such thing as/there's nothing worse than

by massivdisaster



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Death Eater Albus Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:28:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/massivdisaster/pseuds/massivdisaster
Summary: another time turner mishap just might end the world...for scorpius malfoy, anyway.
Kudos: 7





	1. part one

\--

Scorpius had majorly messed up. He hadn’t meant to set it off, but his nervous fiddling had gotten the best of him, and he had grabbed the wrong thing to fiddle with. On top of that, Albus hadn’t gotten to him in time to check when the time turner was set, and that meant that Albus hadn’t gotten to him in time to travel with him. And that meant Scorpius was alone, unsure of when he was, and scared. God, he was scared. It was risky enough being back in time, but the thing about Albus and Scorpius is that they complimented each other. Albus made sure Scorpius was able to do things, and Scorpius made sure Albus didn’t go too far. That’s what they did, that’s who they were.

And without Albus, Scorpius...Scorpius wasn’t a whole lot.

Someone ran into his shoulder then and he nearly lost a grip on the time turner, which would have ruined everything. Scorpius yelped and grabbed it just before it hit the ground, turning to his attacker. “Excuse me--”

“Sorry,” said a very young, very innocent, and very scared looking Harry Potter. “I didn’t see you there.”

Scorpius’s mouth ran dry. “It’s uh...you’re--not your fault--”

In the background, Scorpius could hear people running through the platform entrance, but Harry was still staring at him, apologetic.

“I really didn’t mean to, I was just looking for my platform...what are you holding?”

Scorpius almost told him, but then he remembered that he couldn’t, it would endanger everything, so he--

“...it’s a rubix ball, it’s a new thing, super hard to solve. It’s like a rubix cube but even harder.”

“Oh.”

Harry seemed so innocent Scorpius almost felt bad for lying. But then the pit in his stomach tightened and things got a thousand times worse.

“Get out of our way, stupid muggles--”

Harry’s cart was rammed as Scorpius’s father and grandfather made their way past. Only they didn’t keep going. Draco stopped and turned.

“You’re the kid from the robes shop. I remember you. What are you doing here?”

“I’m trying to find the platform,” Harry said kindly, pulling out his ticket. “But I don’t know how--”

“I can show you. Father has talked me through it a thousand times,” Draco said proudly. His father, meanwhile, was staring Scorpius down.

“And you are?”

“Homeless,” Scorpius said immediately. “I got hit with his cart, and--”

“Good job,” Draco laughed. “What’s your name?”

“Harry Potter.”

All three of the Malfoys stiffened--grandfather, father, and not-yet-born son.

“You have the scar to prove it?” Lucius asked coldly. Harry simply lifted up his hair to show it off.

Scorpius was frozen to where he was, terrified of what was about to happen. Somewhere behind him, someone was yelling for a Ginny and Molly to be careful as they all went through the entrance.

“Harry Potter,” Draco said in awe. “Well, if you need help getting onto the platform, stick with me. Like I said, I’ve got this down.”

“I’m sure,” Lucius said, condescending but pleased.

Suddenly the time turner began to shake in Scorpius’s hands, making a loud buzzing noise and setting off the lights. Harry turned to him.

“What’s going on?”

“Time for me, uh, to go solve it!” Scorpius said quickly. “Sorry, I have to--”

And then he ran as fast as he could away from the entrance to the platform. As he rounded a corner into an empty alley, the time turner yanked him back to the present.

—

An echo of a train whistle faded away as Scorpius tripped over a brick and landed on his forearms, managing to take some of the skin off, but the time turner wasn’t broken and that’s all he cared about. If it wasn’t broken, then he could make things right. He and Albus. Together.

But instead of finding the world he left around the corner, something horrible was in its place. The station was run down, almost deserted, with posters everywhere—plastered to each column, stapled to the benches, floating across the ground—calling for volunteers to help purge muggles and mudbloods. Rewards for taking them down. The concrete was stained in many places, with something that Scorpius didn’t want to look at too closely, and most of the lights were flickering or already burnt out.

“What…?” Scorpius mumbled aloud, his voice echoing in the empty chamber. “This isn’t...this isn’t right. Albus?”

There was no sign of him—of anyone, actually—but suddenly the sound of footsteps echoed behind him and he was forcefully pulled into a chokehold.

“State your name!”

“Uh—Scorpius—“

“No one registered by that name on the list,” a different voice muttered.

“What is he wearing?” the first voice muttered. “Looks like…”

“Who are you?”

Scorpius felt his air being restricted again and he tried to choke out a response. “I—told you—Scorpius—“

“Scorpius who?”

“—Malfoy—“

The pressure on his throat loosened and both of his attackers went silent. This is the end, he thought miserably.

Only...it wasn't.

“Malfoy?”

“I—I’m looking for Albus?” Scorpius said quietly, hoping someone would take pity on him. “Albus Potter? He could help me—“

It occurred to him that the time turner, still clutched in one of his hands, could have glitched and taken him to the wrong future, too far in advance, or maybe had sent him back even further, which would account for the posters. Because this wasn’t his reality, it couldn’t be—

He was spun around then and came face to face with both of his attackers, which—

“James?”

“Why are you looking for my brother?” James asked. He was holding a clipboard to his side and he looked...dignified, somehow. But he wasn’t wearing his Hogwarts robes, and neither was the boy holding him. The boy was someone Scorpius didn’t recognize at all.

With a start, Scorpius realized they were wearing the outfits from the dark future he’d seen, the one with Voldemort Day and Severus Snape and Dolores Umbridge, but—

“Your dad isn’t dead,” Scorpius said quietly, staring at James. “He isn’t dead, but why are you…”

“I said,” James whispered, grabbing Scorpius by the tie and hoisting him into the air. “Why are you looking for my brother? What business do you have with him?”

“He—he can help explain all of this, I promise,” Scorpius begged. “He knows me, he can explain—“

“Pangu,” James said quietly, not removing his eyes from Scorpius. “Cuff him. We need to take him to Hogwarts.”

As they were moving to the platform where only minutes—years?—ago, young Harry Potter had been, a young girl ran up to them.

“Lily!”

James scruffed Scorpius in warning. “I don’t know how you think you know my family, but you keep her name out of your filthy mouth, do you understand?” he whispered into Scorpius’s ear. Scorpius could only whimper in response.

“You’re late,” Lily said. “We were about to leave without you.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Pangu laughed. “We’re too important.”

“Shut up, Weasley.”

Pangu shrunk. Scorpius almost felt sorry for him.

“Who’s this?”

“I need to see Albus—“ Scorpius said desperately. James scruffed him again and he cried out in pain.

“Not sure. But he’s coming back with us.”

“Mudblood carriage?”

“He says he’s a Malfoy,” Pangu said. Scorpius couldn’t read the inflection. Maybe there wasn’t one. But Lily looked directly at James and they seemed to have a conversation over Scorpius‘s head.

“With me, then,” James said after a moment. “I’ll keep him safe.”

Lily shrugged, and Scorpius suddenly had a very bad feeling about all of this.

—

They had the decency to give him water, but that was all the decency they had. James and Scorpius had never been close, and yet it scared him to see this side of James, one that was nothing like the one he knew. His mannerisms and confidence were the same, but the things he was saying, things he clearly believed…

It was odd, too, to have everyone stare at him as they passed by. Normally everyone would have looked straight over him, because Scorpius Malfoy was never worth the time of day. But clearly word had spread of the situation, because the entirety of Hogwarts seemed to want a glance. Gone were the house colors on their robes, replaced instead by the Voldemort insignia, but the longer Scorpius stared, the more convinced he was that he could see a scar on what was supposed to be Voldemort’s forehead.

Occasionally, he attempted to ask about Albus, or maybe for some more water, but every time he did one of the boys in the carriage would raise his wand as if to strike. James held them off, but he didn’t manage to stop it every time.

“ _ Ah _ !”

“Stop it, idiots.”

“Oh come on, you’re telling me you’ve got a soft spot for this little mudblood?”

“I want Albus,” Scorpius said quietly into his arm. Nobody heard him.

“He says he’s a Malfoy, now lay off. And stop it.”

“A Malfoy?” one of the boys said incredulously. “But--”

“That’s what he says,” James said deliberately. “Now leave him alone.”

Not for the first time, Scorpius was saved by a Potter boy. But somehow, he feared it may be the last.

—

The arrival at Hogwarts was terrifying. Scorpius didn’t recognize anything or anyone, and he still hadn’t seen Albus—if he could just see Albus, it would all be okay, right? It had to all be okay if Scorpius could find Albus.

But Albus was nowhere to be found. Instead, Scorpius was stuck in this horrible evil universe, and nobody would tell him what was going on, only stare at him like a freak. He learned to stop talking really fast.

The headmaster was apparently secretive and wouldn’t see anyone, much less Scorpius, no matter how much James begged. Eventually time came for everyone to go to bed, and Scorpius was still in limbo.

“Do we have to keep him?” Pangu whined. James shot him a nasty look, and Pangu shrunk away. That seemed to happen a lot, Scorpius noticed, but there was nothing he was able to do about it.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do with him.”

They both looked at Scorpius instinctively, expecting him to...ask for Albus, he supposed. But he kept his mouth shut.

“We could leave him outside.”

“Too dangerous. I...I suppose he has to come with us, then. Alright, on your feet. Come on.”

Scorpius complied, because he didn’t know what else to do. But on the way to the dorm, something stopped him.

“Albus.”

He pulled away from James and stared across the staircases at his best friend, who looked terribly different, dreadfully changed, but also somehow exactly the same, and he was here, and nobody would let him see him--

“Come on, kid,” James said, the words dying in his throat when he realized what Scorpius was staring at. “No, you can’t--”

“Albus?”

Albus couldn’t hear him. Albus was too far away. But he was here, he was, and Scorpius would get to see him. Soon.

“Come on,” James repeated forcefully, and Scorpius complied. “You don’t get to--”

“You can’t keep me from seeing Albus forever,” Scorpius shot back, looking away from where Albus stood. “And I need to talk to him, soon, and then this will all go away.”

James’s face was stone. As if he didn’t know what to say. As if he...was scared.

“You can’t...you can’t call him that.”

“What?”

“I don’t know how you know about that, but you--his name is not Albus. So stop calling him that.”

“Gee, James, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded a bit desperate,” someone said from behind them. James’s face went pale.

“Uh--I--”

“But it isn’t your fault that your brother’s middle name is from that rebellion traitor, now, is it?” the voice continued. Scorpius tried to see who it was, but wasn’t able to because of the light. “It’s your mother’s fault, isn’t that the story? That she defied your father and had it put down on the certificate?”

“Please stop it--”

“Dreadful people, those Weasleys, and they never do change, do they?”

“Stop it!”

James spun and pulled his wand out. The voice chuckled and put its hands up.

“Temper temper, Potter. Just cause our father is the Dark Lord doesn’t mean we don’t get to poke fun, does it?”

“You aren’t funny, Delphi, now stop it right now!”

“Delphi?”

It was. Scorpius’s stomach dropped. She was here, she was--

Different.

“And who’s this? A new little friend for us to play with?”

“You’re supposed to have been taken care of,” Scorpius whispered, stepping away when Delphi ran her finger along his jaw. He wished someone would take the magical cuffs off him so he was able to grab his wand. After everything, he would have done absolutely anything to dish back to Delphi what she had done to him so long ago--but it hadn’t been that long, had it? A few months?

“Taken care of?”

“You can’t be here, you’re dead,” Scorpius spat. James gave him a look of--panic, maybe? “He made sure of that.”

“Who did? Because I can assure you, I am very much alive, dear child.”

“Delphi, stop it.”

“What’s wrong, Potter? Scared?”

“Wait a second, you said our father,” Scorpius whispered suddenly. Delphi turned back to him curiously. “Our father, you two share--you share a father?”

“You really aren’t from around here, are you?” Delphi giggled. James grabbed her and pushed her away, letting go as soon as he was able. Scorpius noticed how James was now in between him and Delphi, as if he was protecting him. It was a turn around from the James he’d seen earlier that day.

“My father joined with her father to take over the world, including becoming his physical host,” James said quietly to Scorpius. “So yes. We share a father.”

“Not by choice, of course. It’s only because they can’t be separated. Otherwise my father--”

“Otherwise your father would be dead,” James spat quickly. Delphi inhaled sharply and twirled her wand in her hand. “It’s because of my father your family has any hold at all.”

“My father would have found a way to take over the world with or without Harry Potter,” Delphi hissed. “Nothing could stand in his way, and your father was a fortunate addition to his side.”

“Actually,” Scorpius said quietly, “where I’m from your father was defeated by Harry Potter. Voldemort didn’t survive as long as Harry fought against him. And as long as Neville Longbottom survived.”

“Neville Longbottom?” James said, surprised. Delphi let out a low growl.

“It’s not nice to tell stories, child, especially not stories made to make my father look bad.”

“Neville Longbottom was responsible for saving the world?” James asked again incredulously. Scorpius chuckled nervously.

“Not entirely, but--”

“Quiet!”

Scorpius hit the wall before he even saw Delphi lift her wand. It knocked his breath away and made the world go fuzzy; his head felt as though it were wrapped in clingwrap; his stomach and skull were empty yet also horribly overstuffed somehow, and his eyes wanted to pop out of their sockets, straight through the clingwrap but with no other reprieve. His body ached as though he’d been hit by the Hogwarts Express a thousand times over and his throat felt tar trickling down it and becoming solid. His fingertips began to burn, then the rest of his hand, like a sudden bout of frostbite, and the rest of his body became incredibly, unbearably hot, but also somehow still cold. Underneath it all, he felt his spine begin to disassemble piece by piece, tearing each nerve in half, his world was dark and bright and empty all at once and he couldn’t focus on anything but the searing pain coming from every direction, starting at the ends of his hair down to the tips of his toenails.

All in all, 0/10 experience. Scorpius did not recommend.

As suddenly as the sensations began, they ended, and he was on the floor, his throat raw from the screaming he didn’t remember doing. But the ache was there, so he must have.

It took him a few moments to be able to open his eyes again, but when he did, James was looking at him, stone faced.

“Are you alright?”

Scorpius could barely move. He couldn’t respond. He could barely breathe. So he just blinked twice. Albus would have known what it meant. Maybe James would too.

“You’re not...okay. I’ll...the abandoned infirmary should be fine, yeah? What do you think?”

Someone else was there. Pangu, Scorpius hoped weakly, instead of Delphi, or someone who would make things worse.

“I’ll carry him, don’t worry.”

Wait.

Scorpius groaned as his savior picked him up. It sounded like…but it couldn’t be. James wouldn’t allow it, right? James said he couldn’t see him, James said no, James said…

“Why is he moaning your name?”

Distantly, James’s laugh echoed. It sounded uncomfortable. “I wish I knew. He was asking for you earlier.”

“So I’ve heard. How did he…you know, the name…?”

“I’m not sure. But he says he’s a Malfoy, so I’m not sure if he’s just crazy or if...he keeps talking as though he’s not from our universe or something. He was saying something about Neville Longbottom, and something about if our dad had fought Delphi’s dad, he would have...won. As if he knew. Been there, or something.”

“What?”

“Then Delphi...you know, she did her thing, but…”

The movement stopped and Scorpius groaned. He wasn’t actually hurt, but there was phantom pain left over, something that made his skin feel raw, his nerves too alive.

“Our dad? Fighting  _ Voldemort _ ?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s crazy. Dad would never.”

“I know.”

“He did,” Scorpius tried to moan. “It’s my fault, I messed it up, I messed it up, Albus…”

Silence. Then the movement started again, faster, and Scorpius just hoped it would all be over soon.

\--

The sheets weren’t too bad. Maybe a bit cold, even though Scorpius knew they had the warming charm, but he wasn’t uncomfortable, so to say. The light, though, the light was too bright, as if the sun were directly in front of his face, bouncing left to right, up and down, and then--someone was prying his eyes open.

“I think he’s still alive?”

“Gerroff,” Scorpius mumbled, trying to push the hands away, and--his hands. His hands were free.

“He’s alive, yeah.”

“Why are we hiding him? We’re becoming accomplices to a crime, seems like.”

“He knows about Albus.”

“ _ Albus _ ?”

Without his eyes opening, Scorpius shot up, straight forward, so his head was in his lap. He clearly still didn’t have control of himself, but he had to--

“Albus is here?”

“See?”

He tried to pry his eyes open and saw, out of the corner of his eye, Lily, staring disdainfully at James, and holding onto the side of the bed was--was--

“My name isn’t Albus,” said Albus shortly. “And I don’t know how you heard about that, but--”

“But it--no, wait, hold on--” Scorpius put his hand over Albus’s mouth, shaking his head. “Hold on. Albus is your middle name. Your secret middle name. Which makes your first name...Severus?”

“Did you tell him that?” Lily whispered behind him.

“No! Nobody has said his real name around this kid, I’ve made sure of it.”

Albus grabbed Scorpius’s wrists and dragged his hands away from his face. “How do you know about my middle name?”

“It’s your first name, where I’m from,” Scorpius said, which made him realize he wasn’t really helping his case. “I mean, your dad tried to call you Al for a while, but you hated him, and Al, so you insisted on Albus--duh.”

“Severus? Hating  _ dad _ ? You’re joking.”

“How do you know about that?”

“What?” James said sharply. Albus--Severus--was looking at Scorpius as if he’d solved the DaVinci code or something.

“Oh, you and your dad still don’t get along, do you?” Scorpius whispered. “Oh, I’m sorry--”

“We love our dad,” James spat, grabbing Scorpius’s arm away from Severus/Albus (still Albus, to Scorpius, he couldn’t get over the fact that--that it was Albus, no matter what).

“James,” Albus said softly, still staring at Scorpius. “Where did he come from?”

“The station,” James responded. “He was hiding in one of the alleys, asking for you.”

“Where’s my dad? He could help explain it all, maybe--”

“Who?”

“Draco Malfoy. Where is he?”

“ _ Draco Malfoy _ was a coward who died trying to stop the Dark Lord that he’d helped bring into power. And my father sacrificed himself and was given a second chance at life because it’s what he deserved. What our master, what our Dark Lord, deserved,” Albus said roughly. Scorpius furrowed his brows.

“And your…your mum?”

“Brought about grace and something worthwhile to that family name. Weasleys...trash, the lot of them. We don’t speak to that side. And what does that have to do with you anyway?”

“Albus—Albus, please, listen to me, I know it sounds crazy, but—” Scorpius inhaled sharply, grabbing Albus’s arm the way he always had when he needed his best friend to listen to him. He ignored how Albus felt colder than he normally did. “Where I’m from, that’s not how things are, and you have to believe me that this—this world, right now, is all wrong. It’s so wrong, this isn’t how it should be—“

“What on  _ earth _ are you talking about?” Albus glared at Scorpius, trying to take his arm away, but Scorpius clung on with a death grip.

“Where I’m from--”

“Where’s that, crazyland? Let go of me!”

Albus pushed Scorpius back forcefully. Scorpius whimpered and scuttled back into his blankets against the wall. Albus was never that mean to him, Albus was always kind, and this--this wasn’t...this wasn’t Albus.

“Severus, calm down for a second,” James said quietly. “You’re scaring him.”

Scorpius dropped his eyes to the bed, just to be able to look away from Albus’s harsh glare.

“He deserves to be scared! Walking in, knowing all of these  _ things _ about me, a complete stranger--how do you know this?  _ How _ ?”

“You always do this,” Scorpius muttered.

“ _ What _ ?”

“You always do this, you take all my problems and make them about you, don’t you?”

Albus frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m stuck in this horrible alternate universe, without my best friend, and all you can think about is yourself!”

“I--”

“I followed you into every dumb scheme you made,” Scorpius said, gaining his confidence back. “I told you not to go back the second time but I went with you so you didn’t kill yourself, but you did, then I saved the world from that just to bring you back, then I went with you to watch your grandparents die--I saw that, you know? I was there too! I saw what he did to them! And I saw it destroy you, and I made sure you didn’t lose your mind while you were having nightmares for months after--do you know how  _ awful _ it was to hear you scream like that, Albus? My best friend, and I was powerless? And then everything with--with just being your best friend, and I did anything you asked, and even now you  _ still _ don’t care! Because it’s all about you!”

His chest was heaving as he panted and his hands were starting to shake. Albus looked taken aback.

“You...what?”

“I told you before, you never could make my life worse, but I guess I’m just excellent at ruining yours, huh? I always am.”

“Listen--”

“Do you remember the time I let you snot on me?”

“ _ What _ ?”

Scorpius laughed bitterly. “You snotted all down my neck because of some stuff the Gryffindor kids were saying, and I let you, because you were my best friend. And you asked me to lie for you, and I did. And I ruined the world with, and for, you, just because  _ you _ had something to prove.”

“I don’t understand--”

“I let her torture me, and I told you to let her kill me, just so you didn’t do what she said.”

The room went silent for a moment, and Scorpius didn’t want to keep talking. He did anyway.

“I took the Cruciatus curse for you. She told you she wouldn’t keep hurting me if you did what she said. And I told you not to do what she said, and I let it happen, and if she had tried to kill me then I would have let that happen too.”

“You were willing to risk everything…for…me,” Albus said blankly.

“I  _ did _ risk everything for you,” Scorpius shot back desperately. “I told you, we were best friends--”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life--”

“ _ Stop it _ !” Scorpius shouted. Albus was so shocked he took a step back, away from Scorpius, which--which  _ hurt _ . “Stop  _ saying _ that! I know everything about you, I do, and I know who you are, and I know how you prefer being called Albus to Al, and how much you hate your dad, and how much you love pepper imps and hate quidditch and how you don’t like to admit it but you love your little sister and your big brother--”

“I…”

“--and how I can drive you crazy with all my weird little facts but you let me tell you them anyway, cause that’s what best friends do, Albus, that’s what they  _ do _ ! And that’s who I am, for you, or who I was, anyway, because you’re my best friend and I don’t care if you don’t remember me but I really wish you did because this is...this is so much harder without you.”

Albus noted with shock that Scorpius’s shoulders were starting to shake. He looked...broken, somehow. And at that moment, Albus wondered if what Scorpius was saying was possibly true.

Scorpius gasped suddenly. He wasn’t in the same clothes, so he didn’t have his wand, or--

“The time turner--where is it?” He grabbed James’s arm desperately. “The thing I had, where is it, what did you do with it?”

“This?”

Lily had it. Lily was holding it in her grubby little hands, too lackadaisical, too carefree, for what the artifact meant and what it could do.

“Give it back!”

“Oi, leave my sister alone!”

Albus grabbed Scorpius to keep him on the bed, and Lily stepped too far out of reach, and Scorpius was going to lose it if he didn’t get the time turner back, because it was his only chance to get back home.

“ _ Give it back _ !”

“Shut up, kid, you’re going to get us caught!”

Albus wasn’t letting go, but Scorpius had to get to it, and he was shaking so hard, and the world felt too heavy and he needed to get it--

“ **_GIVE IT BACK_ ** !”

Albus went flying into the next bed over and Lily and James both soared backward, but the time turner went further, making a perfect arc and landing out of sight. Scorpius was shaking, the world felt odd and tipsy turvy and he couldn’t see it and he didn’t know what he was going to do if it was broken, because he had no other way home--

He nearly stepped on Lily’s arm in his race to get to where he saw it fall.

“What the  _ hell _ ?”

“Malfoy, what on earth did you just do?”

“Are you alright, Lily? Did he hurt you?”

“No, I’m--I’m okay--”

“The time turner.”

The world was spinning. The time turner was split in half on the floor, but everything that made it work was broken, and he…

“I can’t get home.”

“That was a  _ time turner _ ?”

“I can’t get home, I’m stuck here, I can’t fix things,” Scorpius kept whispering to himself. He lost sight of the floor through his tears. “I can’t get home, I can’t fix things, I needed it to fix things and I can’t--”

“Malfoy?”

“My name is Scorpius,” he squeaked, rubbing at his face unconvincingly. “And now I’m stuck here, and my best friend doesn’t even know who I am--”

“Your best friend?”

“ _ You _ , Albus!”

Scorpius spun and the three Potters scrambled back, away from him.  _ Scared  _ of him.

“I am stranded here, and I don’t even--I don’t have anyone, and I don’t have a way back home, because you wouldn’t  _ give _ it to me.” He sounded weak, and scared, and squeaky, the way he always did when his anxiety was spiking and he couldn’t see a solution. Lily shrunk back even further, gripping onto the bed as if for protection.

“I didn’t know. And besides, time turners are illegal.” She tried to sound brave, but the tremble of her voice gave her away.

James stepped forward then, hands out in defense. His wand was sticking out of his waistband--within reach, but not pointed at Scorpius, which was good.

“Scorpius, we’re sorry, okay? Lily didn’t mean to, and you were scaring her. All of us. But we’re sorry.”

“Why are we sorry to him?” Albus whispered to Lily. Scorpius dragged his eyes back to James, scrubbing at his face again.

“I’m sorry I yelled, and I’m sorry I’m ruining your perfect school, and I’m sorry I’m stuck here,” Scorpius muttered. “And I didn’t mean to scare anyone, I just--I just wanted to go back  _ home _ .”

Someone started to speak to him again then, but he couldn’t hear them. His entire life was flashing before his eyes. When he came to the dark universe the first time, Albus didn’t exist, so he didn’t jump forward with him. So if Scorpius didn’t exist, like they said--if Scorpius Malfoy didn’t exist, then what would happen to him? Surely he would have to vanish soon, the universe didn’t like things out of place. He would vanish, and the entire world could just forget about it, and move on and be better without him. The world would always be better without him, wouldn’t it? He was always the one out of place, the one forgotten, the one who didn’t move forward with everyone else--

Someone was shaking him, gently. He dragged his eyes up from the floor and tried to get them to focus.

Albus.

“Scorpius?”

_ Albus _ .

Another few tears fell, hot and wet, but Scorpius didn’t bother trying to wipe them away. He let them fall. They were temporary, like him. They’d go away forever, like him. They weren’t worth trying to erase, because they were already irrelevant, like--

“Scorpius, please focus on me. You were looking for me earlier, right?”

“I thought you could help me,” he mumbled, sniffing a little, his eyes dropping and becoming unfocused again. Albus shook him, more forcefully this time, but Scorpius was almost too far gone.

“I can--I can  _ try _ to help you. Please.”

“You aren’t my best friend, you can’t help me,” Scorpius slurred, pulling away and lurching towards the bed he’d been in before. Lily and James gave him a wide berth, sharing worried glances. Albus followed him, still trying to get Scorpius to look at him, but he--he wouldn’t.

“I may not be the person you remember, but you--this other world you’re from, it’s better, isn’t it? Better than what we have now?”

“Severus,” James said warningly. Albus shot him a nasty glare.

“James. Shut  _ up _ .”

Scorpius, meanwhile, was trying to suffocate himself in the pillow. If he kept sticking his face in it and not coming up for air, it would work eventually, he mused.

“Scorpius,  _ please _ , look at me.”

“No, no no, you don’t understand, you can’t help me, you can’t help me at all,” Scorpius moaned. “You aren’t Albus, you aren’t him, you can’t help me, leave me  _ alone _ !”

Something touched the small of his back and he arched away, scooting to the far side of the bed.

“Scorpius, please, this means a lot to you, right? Why aren’t you fighting to get it back anymore?”

“Because my chance to get home is  _ gone _ , Albus!” Scorpius shouted, sitting up and throwing the pillow across the room on accident. “Because I could  _ fix _ things with the time turner but I can’t fix my mistakes if I don’t have a way to get  _ back _ to them!”

“What mistakes?”

“I didn’t mean to turn it on, I  _ didn’t _ ,” he mumbled, losing steam again.

“Then--then why  _ did _ you?  _ Surely _ if it was so bad, you wouldn’t be so stupid?”

Albus sounded like he felt guilty, but the words hit home, and Scorpius got his fire back.

“I took it from my dad because of  _ you _ , and  _ you _ were the one who told me it wouldn’t just ‘go off’,  _ Albus _ . And  _ you _ were the one who didn’t come with me, and  _ you _ were the one who abandoned me, and now  _ I’m _ going to vanish just like everything else, and--”

_ And pay the price for your mistakes, like always-- _

“I didn’t mean to, Scorpius, I tried, I know I did. Please, you can’t just--give up. Surely we can find something else and go back and stop you from messing with it, right? We can take it away from you before you use it?”

Scorpius’s eyes had lost focus again. If he listened closely enough, it really did sound like Albus, his Albus.

“Scorpius, you have to focus, okay? Are we going to try to fix this or not?”

“You would have been a great Gryffindor,” Scorpius mumbled. “But instead you were the screw up, just like me. And it was my fault.”

“How was that  _ your _ fault? I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“Because you chose to be my friend instead of going off with Rose, and you--it’s my fault, okay?”

“Doesn’t sound like it. Sounds like I made my own choice to stay with you. And we were best friends because of it.”

Scorpius shut his eyes tight, more tears starting to fall. He wanted to go home, to  _ his _ Albus, to his  _ dad _ , to his home in the Slytherin common room, but…he couldn’t. He’d ruined the universe, and now everything was horrible, but…

Something touched his hand. With a start, he realized it was Albus’s hand.

“We’ll fix this for you, okay, Scorpius? I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” James said quietly in the background. Scorpius felt the tension in Albus’s hand, but it wasn’t directed at Scorpius, which was comforting.

“ _ I promise _ .”

“Severus.”

“I’ll make an unbreakable vow if I have to.”

“We need to go,” Lily said shortly, and suddenly Albus’s hand disappeared. “Or you’re going to dig yourself into a horrible hole. Come on.”

“We’ll be back, okay? Stay here,” Albus called as his siblings dragged him out of the room, and then Scorpius was alone.

\--

To his credit, Albus did come back with food the next day. However, he also brought bad news, including a new outfit.

“We’re parading you around as an orphan we found, so you have to pretend like you kind of belong here for a little while, okay? Just until we get this sorted.”

“I won’t torture anyone, right?”

“You won’t get to, don’t worry,” Albus laughed. Scorpius smiled, and it was almost like old times--almost. “But you may have to act like you agree with it, or Dad will throw a fit.”

“You don’t like him.”

“I’m an okay actor,” Albus said quietly. “And I have to...I grew up hearing a lot of this, okay? So don’t take it personal.”

“Huh?”

Albus shook his head and a mean look came across his face. “Ask me anything.”

Scorpius frowned. “What?”

“Oi,  _ mudblood _ , I said to ask me anything, now are you going to do it or not?”

“…I see,” Scorpius said quietly. Albus’s mouth twitched, but the expression remained. “Uh…what am I supposed to ask you?”

“Stupid,” Albus muttered, looking away. “Ask me about your place here, about everything.”

“Where’s my dad?”

“I—” Albus sighed, dropping the façade. “It’s not going to work if you don’t play along, now come on.”

“I’m confused, though!”

Albus groaned, dropping his head into the pillow in front of him. Scorpius smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Albus grumbled. “I…alright. Let’s make your cover story.”

“How?”

“You…you read a lot of history books, and you liked the name Malfoy, and people teased you about it, cause of your hair. That’s how you got the name. Okay?”

“But…”

“It’s believable.”

“It’s rubbish.”

“You’re rubbish!”

“You’re more!”

“Mudblood!”

Scorpius stopped short. Albus looked shocked at himself, then looked away from Scorpius quickly.

“…sorry. Habit.”

“Muggleborns aren’t bad, you do know that, right?”

“Here they are.”

Scorpius looked away too. He couldn’t bear to see the conviction in Albus’s face.

“I—look, okay, what else…how you got trained in magic, they’ll want to know that.”

“I’d rather just stay in here. There’s no way to fix this. I’ll rot in this room forever if I have to.”

Albus sighed loudly. “Why won’t you just help me help you?”

“I don’t want to help you, you suck,” Scorpius said, hugging his pillow tighter to his chest. “I miss  _ my _ Albus.”

“You—you can’t keep calling me that, okay?”

Scorpius looked up for a second, and looked away when he saw the anger in his eyes.

“Like I said. Let me rot in here.”

“They’re going to find you eventually, we just have to be prepared.”

Suddenly the door was thrown open. Albus flew out of the bed, wand drawn, only to find Lily standing there, hand on her hip.

“They’re already suspicious. I told them we’re torturing him. Now make him scream.”

“What? No!”

Scorpius sighed, leaned back, and let out a loud scream—believable enough, he hoped. When he looked back down Albus looked terrified and Lily looked…impressed.

“That should do it. Do that occasionally. We have twenty-four hours before they barge in and take over.”

“ _ Don’t _ do that again,” Albus said shakily. Scorpius shrugged nonchalantly.

“I have to, apparently.”

He made a game of it. He and Albus would get to talking, and when the conversation seemed casual, or at its height of intensity, Scorpius would scream directly into his face, just for fun. Albus kept getting angrier and angrier, making the screams more frequent, until finally he threw down the papers he’d been holding and grabbed his wand.

“That’s it, I’m out.”

“What? I was having a good time,” Scorpius giggled. Albus made a choking motion towards him before storming to the door.

“It’s not funny.”

“What, shall I only do it when you call me mudblood? That’d make it more frequent. Probably better for your image.”

“This isn’t a game, Scorpius!”

“Might as well be.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be trying to get back home?” Albus spat at him. Scorpius just shrugged.

“If I could, I would. But I can’t.”

“You’re hardly even trying.”

“My only chance home is broken. Your sister made sure of that.”

“No,  _ you _ did. You’re the one who attacked her.”

“I did not attack her!”

“You did, I saw you! You attacked all of us! I—I don’t know how, but you did!”

“How?”

Albus stopped short, looking at Scorpius. “You—you really didn’t see it?”

“See—see what? I didn’t touch any of you, you were the one holding me back,” Scorpius said, furrowing his eyebrows. “I didn’t do anything to you.”

“We got pushed back when you got upset, so Lily dropped it,” Albus said softly, lowering his wand to his side. “She didn’t do it on purpose. She would have helped you. We  _ all _ would have.”

Scorpius looked down, trying to think back to that moment.

_ “Give it back!” _

~~_ “Oi, leave my sister alone!” _ ~~

~~_ Albus grabbed Scorpius to keep him on the bed, and _ ~~ _ Lily stepped too far out of reach ~~,~~ _ ~~_ and _ ~~ _ Scorpius was going to lose it  _ _ if ~~he didn’t get the time turner back, because it was his only chance to get back home.~~ _

_ “ _ _ Give it back _ _!” _

_ “ ~~Shut up, kid, you’re going to get us caught!”~~ _

~~_ Albus wasn’t letting go, but _ ~~ _ Scorpius had to get to it,  _ ~~_ and he was shaking so hard, and _ ~~ _ the world felt too heavy  _ _~~and~~ _ _ he  _ _ needed _ _ to get it-- _

_ “ _ **_GIVE IT BACK_ ** _!” _

Something echoed, but he wasn’t sure what.

“I don’t remember that,” Scorpius said quietly, staring at his hands. “I was just…I was so scared…”

“And you—you didn’t  _ mean _ to, clearly,” Albus said gently, “but you did.”

“So I ruined my own life.”

“No, that’s not—”

“I did, this is my fault again,” Scorpius said louder, his hands beginning to shake. “This is my fault, because I got upset, and scared, and it’s my fault that she dropped it, and it’s my fault—”

“Scorpius, please, focus, okay?”

“It’s my fault,” he kept muttering, staring at his hands, which were starting to turn a little bit gold, and why were they turning gold, and his hands started shaking worse, and—

“Scorpius,” Albus warned. “Stay with me now.”

—and his hands weren’t getting any more skin-colored and oh god, this was it, these were his last moments, and he was turning gold and he was going to fade away, and—

“Scorpius?”

Suddenly Scorpius surged forward and wrapped his arms around Albus tightly, nearly climbing into his lap, his hands shaking so hard he could barely feel them, and—

And Albus hugged him back. Tightly. Trying to ground him.

“Hey, it’s okay, you aren’t going to die, we’re going to fix this, okay? I promise. Please, Scorpius, focus on me, alright, I’m right here, please stop saying that—”

Scorpius realized with a start he was sobbing the words “I don’t want to die” into Albus’s shoulder, and—and he was  _ sobbing _ .

“I’m not going to let you die, okay? Hey, you can feel my chest, right? Scorpius? Nod if you can feel my chest, okay?”

Scorpius hit Albus’s back instead. Once.  _ Yes _ .  _ His _ Albus would understand.

“…alright. Breathe with me as best you can. Please try, alright?”

Scorpius did try. It worked. It took a very long time, but it worked. Eventually they were just breathing together, no more crying, just holding each other, and—

Oh god. Scorpius was in Albus’s lap.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry—”

Albus didn’t let him go. “Scorpius, it’s okay.”

“No no no this is all so wrong I’m so sorry I didn’t—”

Albus still wouldn’t let him move away. Scorpius was trying, but his breath was getting faster again, and Albus had a hold on his hands and wasn’t letting go.

“Breathe with me.”

“Not like this!”

“Scorpius.”

“Let  _ go _ !”

Albus did, but a shadow crossed over his face as he did so. Scorpius scrambled back and away, as far as he could get from Severus Albus Potter, and prayed to whatever or whoever was listening that he would get home soon, where things were less—confusing.

His fingertips were still more golden than the rest of his skin, he saw in despair. It wasn’t a trick of the light.

“It’s starting.”

“What is?”

“I’m fading, look,” he said quietly, offering his hands to Albus, but taking them back when he saw Albus reach for them. Albus nodded and the hands returned, cautiously.

“That doesn’t seem normal.”

“I’m dying,” Scorpius said softly. There was no room for interpretation. “I’m fading away.”

Albus just stared at him, unable to say anything at all.


	2. Chapter 2

The room parted for him when he walked in. Everyone cowered away.  _ Fear is good. Fear is submission. Fear is power. _

It was the only voice in his head now. He hadn’t had a shred of humanity left in him for a very long time.

His officers bowed to him—Bellatrix, Delphi, Narcissa, Severus Sr., the Potter children, and Pettigrew, among others. Those were his chiefs. Not his favorites, for the Potter children wouldn’t be there if that were the case. But he had to pacify his prison somehow.

“My liege.”

“Mistress.”

Bellatrix’s husband stiffened in the background, as he always did. Delphi smiled with pride. Delphi, his child. Delphi, his—

With a start, he noticed the line was not complete. One of the Potter children seemed to have disappeared. Clearly the Lestrange’s had noticed, as well as the siblings, explaining their deepest bows.

“Where is he?”

Bellatrix’s fingertips trembled.  _ Fear is power. Fear is intoxicating. _

“We have a prisoner, my lord! He is taking care of it!”

“A prisoner? In my castle? And no one thought to make me aware?”

“We are attempting to gain access to his motives, father,” the Potter girl said.

_ Lily _ , something echoed. He quieted it.

“Have you succeeded?”

“Almost.”

“Keep me informed.”

“Father.”

She bowed deeper. It wasn’t enough.

There was resistance as he raised his wand, but he squashed it and forced the girl into a deeper bow. She grunted, but took it well.

“Father,” Delphi said. Delphi, his pride and joy. “We have made contact with the ambassadors to the east. All is set in place for domination there, when you are able.”

“Good,” he rasped. “My lovely Delphi, thank you.”

Something shifted. He wasn’t sure who. But someone was unhappy.

“Someone has something to say?”

Murmurs of ‘no’ spread throughout the room. He believed almost all of them, but could not discern the liar without further inspection. Inspection he had no strength for at the moment.

“Most unfortunate.”

The room tittered again, but no one came forward.

“Proceed, my lady.”

_ Fear is power. Fear is submission. Fear is good. Fear is intoxicating. _

Fear is all he has.

\--

Severus paced in his room, papers flying as his automatic quills discarded his ideas as fast as he did.

“…it would be too hard to build one, and I doubt muggles would help us anyway…”

The door flew open. James.

“You missed the meeting.”

“I have to help him,” Severus muttered. “I don’t know why, but I have to.”

“You could just turn him in, you know.”

“I don’t think I can. Not on good conscience. I have to help him.”

“Severus—”

“That’s not my—”

Both of them stopped and stared at each other.

“You were about to—”

“Shut up.”

“He’s poisoning you. You can’t be known as… _ that _ , you know that.”

“It’s just—it’s just habit, I’ve spent all day with him,” Severus said desperately. The quills had stopped, all turning to look at him expectantly. He waved them away and they piled neatly onto his desk. “He keeps calling me that, so.”

James stared back at him, face unreadable. “We only have until tomorrow morning until someone gets involved.”

“And I don’t have a good plan to help him. Unless a time turner has somehow survived.”

“You think what he’s saying is true?”

Severus fell back onto his bed, sighing. “I don’t know. It seems just far fetched enough to be true. It seems too elaborate to just be made up.”

“Sev…”

“I don’t know, James. I just...I look at him and there’s a part of my brain that…”

“...Severus? What?”

Severus rolled over onto his side, away from James. “I don’t know if I just want to believe it, or if the part of my brain insisting that it’s true might...know something.”

“Why would you  _ want  _ to believe it?”

He’d been asking himself the same thing all day. Why, when Scorpius started crying, did he feel the need to step in and try to fix things? He didn’t know this kid. He could have escaped from some kind of mental institution, or made it all up, or somehow gotten stupid enough to have been left behind from the rebellion--

But that didn’t explain how he knew all of those things. The resentment for his father and his life. His family, and his name...his name was what he couldn’t make sense of. Nobody knew about his middle name except his family.

And Scorpius.

“He knows...he’s really sure of a lot of things that don’t make sense, really. He shouldn’t know what he does.”

“But all that stuff about dad fighting...him? And the bit about Neville Longbottom--that doesn’t make sense, you do know that, right?” James scoffed.

“Doesn’t it?”

Severus sighed loudly and fidgeted with his robe. James crawled onto the bed with him, incredulous.

“Severus. You know how crazy you sound, right?  _ Right _ ?”

The call came for lights out, then, and Severus rolled off his bed quickly.

“Good night, James.”

James stared at him for a few seconds longer, unsure of how to stop his brother from falling apart.

\--

It was unusual for Narcissa to volunteer for anything regarding the Dark Lord’s wishes, but for some reason, she felt compelled to take this task. Not to prove herself, as he assumed, but she felt as though missing this opportunity would somehow…

Well, she wasn’t sure. But it certainly couldn’t be good.

Lily Potter led her through the halls to the prisoner. Narcissa reflected for a moment on what this meant; the Potter children were clearly hiding something, and even after everything the Malfoys had done to prove themselves, the Potters were still favored. It didn’t sit right with her. Maybe that was part of this need she felt to…

Something. She wasn’t actually sure what her goal was here.

Lily pushed the door open, eyes still pointed down. Very few people looked Narcissa in the eye, because most were afraid of stories they’d heard--not of her, but of her late husband and son. Lucius’s descent into madness, and Draco’s treachery...the rumors, regardless of how true, were more than enough to make people pause when interacting with her.

The two Potter boys--Severus and James, she remembered after a moment--were standing in front of the bed. Something about the scene felt off, but she couldn’t quite tell what.

“He’s here?”

“Behind the curtain.”

Severus went to pull them open, and Narcissa saw his hands were shaking.

Ah. He was nervous. That could mean...anything.

There were many things she was expecting from behind the curtain. A dementor un-demented. A copy of the dark lord. Harry Potter or Albus Dumbledore himself.

But to see her son, as he was before his rebellion? Not quite what she thought.

“Draco?”

“Grandmum?”

“He’s confunded!” James said quickly, laughing nervously. “Forgive him, he--”

“Draco, is that you?”

The boy scooted off the bed and started towards her, pained look in his eyes. “I’m not--no, but I--”

“You…”

Severus was having to physically restrain James from interfering, she noticed after a moment. Quickly she composed herself, staring at the boy, but unable to keep the emotion from her face.

“I know him, Draco? He’s my dad.”

Something tickled her brain then, but with a shake of her head it was gone. “How dare you? That’s impossible. My son is dead, he never had children.”

“Not here he didn’t, no, but--”

“Scorpius, stop talking,” Severus hissed.

_ Mum, if I ever have a kid, I want to name it Scorpion. I’m a dragon, and my kid can be a scorpion. It’ll be amazing! Scorpia for a girl, and...what’s a boy name for Scorpion? Scorpi...us? Scorpius! Maybe I’ll have twins, mum, wouldn’t that be great? _

The brain tickle was back, but this time…

“You’re...you’re Draco’s son?”

The boy--Scorpius--nodded. Behind him, James and Severus shared a panicked glance.

“He’s crazy, Narcissa, please don’t--”

“Do you know where my dad is?”

“Scorpius!”

Severus grabbed Scorpius roughly and shoved him back onto the bed. Fear crossed his eyes, but Severus didn’t seem to notice.

“I thought you promised to sit down and shut up when they arrived.”

“You didn’t tell me it was going to be my grandmother!”

“Grandmother.”

James stared at her, nervous. “My lady, he doesn’t mean anything by it…”

Scorpius pulled his arm away from Severus. “You can’t keep me from my family, Albus.”

Severus’s hand twitched. “I told you not to call me that,” he said lowly, dangerously. Scorpius didn’t back off.

“I don’t care what you have to say, my family is here and--”

The sound of the strike echoed across the room. Narcissa hadn’t seen Lily advance, but there she was, hand still swinging from the slap. Scorpius’s head was turned away, his cheekbone turning bright pink.

“Lily!”

Severus was trembling. Narcissa saw his hand twitch for his wand, but he hesitated just long enough for Lily to push him away.

“He’s a prisoner, Severus, and he’s not obeying what we told him, so he has to be punished. Or else  _ Narcissa  _ might do it.”

“I’m supposed to be in charge now anyway,” Narcissa said softly. All three of them turned to look at her, startled. Scorpius hadn’t moved. “I suggest you step away from him. All of you.”

They did, reluctantly. She could see that while he had her son’s nose, and hair, the resemblance dissipated the closer she got. He looked like her son, mixed with someone else. Which would make sense, if he really was her grandson.

“You say you know--knew--my son?”

Scorpius still hadn’t moved, but when she spoke he dropped his head a little. “...yes.”

“And the fact that he’s dead doesn’t phase you at all?”

“...not really.”

“Why is that?”

“If he wasn’t dead, things wouldn’t be this way. He has to be dead, because otherwise the world wouldn’t...the world would be better. He makes things better.”

He spoke with such conviction, as if he knew. As if he was confirming what Narcissa had always suspected. Her son did some good in the world, and he...this boy, Scorpius, was somehow proof.

“He’s confunded,” James said again in the background. “Honestly, he…”

“He’s not crazy.”

She turned to face the Potters. They were staring at her, concerned.

“Draco always told me...his first son, he wanted to name Scorpius. So I’m not sure how you exist,” she murmured, turning back to him, “but I believe you.”

She wasn’t sure what compelled her to say it, but instinctively she knew, this was why she took the assignment today. Somehow, her last living relative was here, against all odds, and she had to protect him.

But first, she had a letter to write.

\--

“I need you to follow my lead, okay?”

Scorpius nodded, barely. Albus was staring at him desperately, but he didn’t want to be part of this. He wanted to go home, or back to the infirmary, anywhere but here.

“You defected, and we…”

He just kept nodding. Maybe if he kept nodding, Albus would stop talking. For the first time in my life, he wanted Albus to stop talking. He  _ needed  _ Albus to stop talking.

“...are you even listening to me?”

He was still talking. Scorpius just bowed his head.

“He’s playing the part well,” James said, bounding over with a smile. “Like a prisoner who’s been tortured into submission!”

Scorpius just looked at him with dead eyes. James stepped away, grimacing.

“A little too well, almost.”

_ I want to go home, _ he almost said. But he knew no one would be able to help. It would be as if they didn’t even hear him. And besides, this was going to have to be his home now. He’d never get to see his Albus again.

“Scorpius, you need to work with us, okay? This is for the best right now.”

He just started moving ahead, refusing to acknowledge the Potters any further. He’d rather find his own way. 

“Scorpius, hey, hold on a second!”

Albus grabbed his arm, but Scorpius just pulled it away. Albus, however, didn’t let up, and grabbed his shoulders and held him in place. 

“You can’t just go running off, okay? You--”

Albus faltered, looking at Scorpius’s face closely. He looked...horrible. His eyes were gaunt, his gaze hollow, and his once hopeful smile was...absent. Completely absent. As if he’d given up entirely. And he still hadn’t spoken. It hadn’t slipped past him that Scorpius would no longer look him in the eye. Something in him was broken or lost, and Albus...wasn’t sure how to fix it.

“Scorpius, focus on me, please? Look at me.”

Scorpius didn’t move. His eyes were fixed somewhere between them, but not actually looking at anything.

“Hey, Scorpius, come on. My eyes are up here.”

Nothing.

He looked around, nervous, then leaned forward and lowered his voice.

“It’s Albus, okay? Please, you can’t flip out on me now. People are going to start staring.”

No response. Scorpius had turned into a husk.

“Severus, what are you doing?”

He turned to James, groaning. “I can’t get him to focus, or stop wandering off, and he won’t look at me. I’m worried.”

“It’s a simple solution, isn’t it? Imperius him.”

Both Potters spun to stare at the speaker as she and her companion cackled.

“Looks like my sister did an excellent job shell-shocking him, hm?” Bellatrix grinned, starting to circle the boys.

“And he’s stopped asking for  _ you _ , Potter, that must be nice,” Delphi pouted, reaching to touch Albus’s hair. Albus jerked away, then pulled Scorpius away from Bellatrix, who had begun to stroke his face.

“He abandoned the rebellion to join us, we can’t alienate him more now,” James said, trying to stand in front of Albus and Scorpius. Delphi smiled, taking James’s face in her hand.

“Sweet, sweet Jamie...it’s kind of you to try to protect them, but they still belong to us...same as you.”

James tried to pull away, but wasn’t able to. Delphi had him right where she wanted him. Slowly she raised her wand and pointed over his shoulder.

\--

Albus watched in horror as Scorpius flew into the air and began to convulse, screeching. He knew what that felt like; the sensation of being torn apart was not one forgotten easily.

He tried to grab Scorpius’s ankle, but Scorpius flew higher into the air instead, away from the group. Delphi was laughing in the background.

“Aw, Potter, have a soft spot for him? Little mudblood deserter, all alone in the world, and Sevvie baby cares for him? Hah!”

Scorpius’s hands were beginning to glow golden again. The stress was causing him to disappear faster.

Albus saw red and drew his wand, sending all of his anger through it to Delphi, just to get her to stop. She went flying backwards, as if hit by a train, and nearly over the railing, barely managing to catch herself in time. But that didn’t stop it, Scorpius was still screaming, so Albus sent another blast to Bellatrix, crashing her into the wall. He wanted them to feel  _ ten times _ as much pain as they were making Scorpius feel, and he couldn’t stop himself from sending blast after blast at them until eventually Delphi fell out of sight and Bellatrix had stopped reaching for her wand. His hands were shaking and his eyesight was fuzzy. He was still angry that they had  _ dared  _ to do that to him, had  _ dared  _ to hurt Scorpius--

_ Scorpius _ .

Albus spun, wand still forefront, ready to defend. Scorpius was collapsed on the ground like a rag doll, barely moving, only shaking from his sobs where he lay.

“Scorpius?”

Albus took a step towards him and Scorpius flung himself backward.

“No, no, no, no, no more, no more, no more, no more…”

Scorpius was...scared. Of him.

“Scorpius, no, I’m sorry, I was trying to protect you--”

His wand shot off sparks again in his desperation. Scorpius yelped and scooted backward again.

“No, no, no, no, no, no…”

“Severus, put the wand down.”

“I didn’t mean to--”

“Severus, put it down!”

He dropped the wand and James picked it up quickly, his wand still outstretched.

“You’re going to get in so much trouble,” James said lowly.

“I just--”

“You attacked two senior officers.”

“They were hurting Scorpius!”

“You can’t be this attached already, Severus! I mean--good Lord, look at yourself, what you’ve done, and you barely know him?”

“ _ POTTER! _ ”

“You need to go,” James hissed, going to push him towards one of the hallways. Albus backed up, towards Scorpius.

“Scorpius is hurt.”

“Severus, go.”

“At least give me my wand?”

“ **_POTTER!_ ** ”

“No, because you’re dangerous right now, just--just go! I’ll hold them off!”

Delphi shot up into the air from below, wings spread and eyes glowing.

“ **_YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!_ ** ”

Hogwarts shook. Delphi meant business, and Albus wasn’t going to get away without a fight.

He was certainly going to try though.

He took off running, catching eyes with James as he rounded the corner. James looked panicked for him, but there was nothing he could do. Delphi was following him, soaring through the hallways, screeching as she did. Albus ducked in and out of classrooms and hallways, trying to lose her, but it didn’t work. Every time he reappeared, she found him. And with no wand, he was useless.

_ If I could just talk to dad, maybe he would be proud of me, I stood up for myself-- _

As he reached the Great Hall he realized he had nowhere left to run. Either his father was here and would stop her, or he would have to turn around, and then he’d really be dead.

“ _ Dad! _ ”

He threw the doors open and the sound echoed like a gunshot. His father--his  _ father _ \--

“Severus Junior?”

He tripped, falling at his father’s feet, the noise echoing again. His gasps sounded too loud in the chamber, but he couldn’t stop, because he could feel the air from Delphi’s wings sending his cape flying around his face.

This was where he was going to die. At the feet of his father, at the hands of his half-sister. And nobody would care, and he’d be letting Scorpius down, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do if--

“Delphi. What is the meaning of this?”

The floor shook as she landed. Albus stayed down, shaking, eyes closed, ready for anything.

“He attacked mother and me, and--”

“They were hurting Scorpius,” Albus mumbled to the floor.

“--nearly killed us--”

“They were hurting Scorpius,” he said louder. Delphi stopped talking and the room went entirely still.

“Excuse me?”

“Our new--the prisoner, they were torturing him and killing him.” He dared to raise his head slightly, pushing away from the floor. “He’s fragile but he could be of great use to us, and they were--”

“He means nothing! He is just a pawn! A spare!”

“He’s not a  _ spare _ ,” Albus spat, spinning to Delphi. Her eyes were black and her wings spread wide. “He could do a lot for us--”

“Little Severus has a crush, does he?”

Bellatrix grabbed his hair and Albus hissed at the pain as he was dragged from the floor.

“Little Sevvie wants to protect his new toy? How  _ touching _ .”

“No, that’s not--”

“Bellatrix.”

Albus was dropped unceremoniously onto his back, but Bellatrix made sure to keep a foot on his shoulder so he had nowhere to go.

“I trust my son’s judgement. If he says not to hurt the prisoner, do not hurt it.”

“Thank you,” Albus said under his breath, fighting to keep his chest moving against the anxiety and Bellatrix’s boot. “Get off of me, Bellatrix.”

“You’re joking, my lord, you can’t--”

“Let him up.”

The boot moved and Albus sighed, pulling himself up to his feet. “Thank you, father.”

“Where is the prisoner now?”

“With James, I think,” Albus said hopefully, eyes still pointed down. There was silence, and then suddenly a wand was lifting his chin up and he was eye to eye with the abomination that was his father.

“Make me proud, Severus. Or you will regret it.”

“Yes sir.” His voice was tight. He hated his father, hated this thing he’d become, and yet he had to make him proud or he didn’t know what else he could do. He was trapped in this world, in this life.

Only, he wasn’t. And Scorpius was proof of that.

\--

Scorpius was not doing well. Everything was distant and hollow, and no matter how many times he tried to call to James, or give him an answer, nothing was working. He was stuck in this coma/vegetative state, unable to move, barely able to breathe. He kept begging for someone to look at his hands, or notice them, or something, because something was wrong with his hands, he could feel it, but…

When he finally started to really come to, he was back in the infirmary, and Albus was there again, not looking at him. He tried to say something, anything, even just “Albus”, but nothing came out. And he drifted off again.

The next time he woke up, he had hands. At the very least, he had something that Albus was clinging onto. This time he was able to move his head and Albus squeezed his hand, saying something, but the world vanished again.

He missed Albus’s hand reaching for his face, resting there, and he missed Albus starting to cry as he faded. He missed it all.

\--

“He’s vanishing faster,” Albus said desperately. “We have to find a way to save him.”

“I don’t think there is a way, darling,” Narcissa said softly. She wasn’t sure what broke her heart more; the loss of her grandson, or the heartbreak rolling off the Potter boy in waves. That’s how she knew all of this was real, that it wasn’t the lunatic ravings of a madman. Because this kind of desperation and craving, this need to care, didn’t come without some kind of connection.

“We have to--to find the time turner, or fix it, or something. You don’t know of one at all? Maybe this was your family’s and that’s how he got a hold of it?”

“No.”

He sighed and dropped his head onto Scorpius’s shoulder. Scorpius stirred momentarily, then relaxed again, if relaxed was the word she could use.

Though it didn’t outwardly show, Narcissa’s mind was racing. There had to be a way to fix this. If only she’d gotten a response to her letter…

As if summoned by her thoughts, an owl arrived at the window, letter in its beak. She rushed over, ignoring the protests from the bedside, and read the letter hungrily, begging it for the answers she needed.

And the prayers were answered.

“He’s alive,” she gasped.

“Who?”

Narcissa looked up, more alive than she’d been in years, her voice catching in her throat. The Potter boy was looking at her expectantly, desperately, as if begging her to be able to fix it. She didn’t know how to tell him what she’d just discovered, or what it meant. She just nodded at him, hoping he would understand.

He must have, to a degree. His shoulders dropped and he smiled a bit.

“I have to go,” she said softly. “But I’ll fix this for you.”

His “thank you” was lost as she apparated away.

\--

The next time Scorpius woke up, he felt okay. A bit spacey, a bit disconnected, but alive and okay.

“Scorpius?”

His brain was working at half speed, but he remembered enough to watch his words.

“...Severus?”

He could barely make out his friend’s face, but Scorpius watched it fall anyway.

“Scorp, it’s just us, it’s okay.”

Scorpius just groaned. He felt...something, down at the end of his arms. Pressure, or something like it, but he couldn’t figure out how he was feeling it.

“...hands…”

“Yeah, I’ve got them.”

“No, I can’t...I can’t feel them.”

“I told you the glowing was bad.”

“Lily! Shut up!”

“Glowing?”

“Uh--”

“Scorpius, listen to me. Being out of this room isn’t safe anymore. Are you going to be okay to just stay in here?” His voice was desperate and sad, and Scorpius…

“What’s going on with my hands?”

He sat up, ignoring how the world started to spin dangerously. His hands were almost shimmering, but when he focused on them long enough they started to vanish. The effect went most of the way up his arm, nearly to his shoulders, though it wasn’t as strong the closer it got. With a start, he noticed his feet were starting to do the same thing. It went about halfway up his thighs, and the longer he stared, the more faint he felt.

“It’s like you said,” Albus said quietly. “You’re starting to fade. But I won’t let you.”

“Severus. It’s time.”

“He just woke up--”

Narcissa Malfoy stood at the door, as if she was preparing to lead them straight into hell. “I have been given orders to not delay introductions any longer. Please don’t make this harder.” Her face was hard, and the look she shared with Albus was indecipherable, but not unnoticed.

“Introductions?”

“The Dark Lord wants to meet you.”

\--

They wrapped him up as best as they could, and Albus helped him walk, because he could barely stand on his own. The more he moved, the less stable he felt. He just wanted to lay down again, but they wouldn’t let him, no matter how many times he asked.

Albus felt sick walking this boy to the Great Hall. It had been about a week since the start of term, but he really felt like he’d known Scorpius all his life. Something in him knew that this wouldn’t end well, but his father had put trust in him, and…

And that was going to be how it crashed, his brain supplied helpfully. His father would be Scorpius’s undoing.

Shut up, he said to that part of his brain. Shut up, shut up, shut up.

The doors were pushed open and James gave him one last worried glance before the entirety of the room turned to look at them. Their father was the first to move, opening his arms, beckoning them. Delphi stood at his side, angry and stoic, her wings still present and demanding attention. Bellatrix stood next to them, sneering, trying to look intimidating but failing horribly.

“My children. Do come in.”

Scorpius shivered in Albus’s arms, clutching him tighter and turning away. Albus rubbed his shoulder as sneakily as he could and helped him forward.

“Our new prize?”

“Our new soldier,” Lily said softly. She curtsied and James bowed, but Albus simply nodded his head and looked back to Scorpius. His skin was more yellow than before, a side effect of the vanishing, he assumed. Either way, he didn’t look well, especially not well enough to bow.

“Your name, my child?”

“Scorpius,” he whispered. “Scorpius Malfoy.”

The council at the front all sharply looked to Narcissa behind him, waiting for an explanation.

“He isn’t truly a Malfoy. I am the last of them. He garnered the nickname because of his hair. His old colleagues were cruel.”

Albus nodded and shifted Scorpius up. Scorpius finally raised his eyes to meet Albus’s, and it took everything in him not to whisk him away from this place, these people, and figure it out on their own.

“Scorpius...you sound like one of my own.”

“People thought I was your son,” Scorpius choked out quietly, turning to face the Dark Lord for the first time. “They didn’t like me much.”

“I am his only child,” Delphi said indignantly, wings fluttering. The Dark Lord put his hand out.

“We are aware, Delphi, do not worry. Your friends…”

“They weren’t my friends. I only had one. He’s...he’s gone.”

His head fell, away from Albus, and Albus took in a sharp breath.

“My goodness.”

“He doesn’t know much--believe me, we’ve asked,” James stared. “But with time to get back his strength--”

“Let him go, Severus.”

Albus looked back at his father, confused. “He can barely stand.”

“I would like to see him try. Drop him.”

A test.

Albus slowly untangled Scorpius from him, trying to avoid showing emotion on his face. Scorpius looked resigned, as if he knew what was going on. Albus promised to explain himself later, when they got out of this. When Scorpius was safe.

He was standing on his own, shakily, when the Dark Lord lifted him into the air with his wand and started to choke him.

“What are you doing--?”

James grabbed his arm to keep him from running, but Scorpius was writhing, grasping at nothing, scratching his neck and wheezing. His father was bored, unimpressed.

“You are a liability. Tell me what you know.”

“Father, put him down!”

“My lord, he’s fragile, please,” Narcissa said loudly. Scorpius started writhing harder, his face turning purple.

“Unless he can help me, I do not want him. What do you know, child? Prove your worth.”

“I--”

“Stop it!”

“Severus, calm down.”

“He’s killing him, James--”

“Shush!”

“Child. I ask one last time. What can you do for me? Why are you worthy of keeping?”

Scorpius hung for one glorious, shimmering moment, in the air, not moving. He took a breath, pulling his arms and legs in, dropping his head, as if ready to scream or cry, but--

Instead, he burst.

“SCORPIUS!”

A shower of gold shimmer drifted down, expelled from where Scorpius once was. There was nothing left of him; even the clothes he wore had disappeared, cascading down onto the floor below, resting and vanishing as soon as they landed.

Albus felt choked, as if all the air had been vacuumed from his lungs when Scorpius had burst, like a black hole. He didn’t even register James shaking him, nor his father arriving in front of them and grabbing his face until he was pulling away.

“He was all I had,” Albus said hollowly.

“Severus, don’t be ridiculous.”

“That’s not my name.”

James made a noise, but Albus locked eyes with him defiantly.

“My name is Albus, and you--” He turned to the Dark Lord. “--should not exist. You should be dead.”

Without even thinking about it, he raised his wand.


End file.
